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Facies analysis of a large-scale Jurassic shelf-lagoon: the Kamar-e-Mehdi Formation of east-central Iran

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Abstract

The Callovian–Lower Kimmeridgian Kamar-e-Mehdi Formation of the Tabas Block (east-central Iran) is an up to 1,350-m-thick, fine-grained, marly-calcareous unit containing a basal Echellon Limestone Member (up to 180 m thick) and a terminal Nar Limestone Member (up to 100 m thick). The formation was deposited in a relatively deep shelf-lagoon that was part of the large-scale carbonate system of the Esfandiar Subgroup, extending N–S for about 500 km along the strike with a width of up to 100 km. The lagoonal Kamar-e-Mehdi Formation shows sedimentation rates of 150 m/myr, twice as high as those of the shelf-edge carbonate barrier (Esfandiar Platform). The repetitive lithologies and uniform depositional environment suggest equilibrium conditions between sedimentation and subsidence, related to constant slow rotation of the Tabas fault-block around a horizontal axis, the platform sitting on the crest, and the lagoon occupying the dip-slope. Lagoonal sedimentation was dominated by suspended carbonate mud and peloids from the eastern Esfandiar Platform whereas the subordinate siliciclastic material was derived from the west (Yazd Block). The diverse macrobenthos (mainly bivalves) suggests fully marine conditions for the major part of the Kamar-e-Mehdi Formation. However, towards the upper part, biotic impoverishment and the deposition of skeletal-poor, evaporitic sediments indicate increasing restriction. The overlying Magu Gypsum Formation marks the end of an arid basin-fill cycle and possibly forms an effective seal for hydrocarbon reservoirs in that area. The Esfandiar Subgroup was a Neotethys-facing carbonate margin, forming part of a belt of carbonate systems tracking the margins of the Iran Plate during Callovian to Late Jurassic times.

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Acknowledgments

This manuscript greatly benefited from insightful reviews by R. Henrich (Bremen, Germany) and M. Reolid (Jaén, Spain). Field work was financially supported by the National Geographic Society (grant # 5888-97) which we gratefully acknowledge. We also acknowledge logistic support by the University of Tehran, the Geological Survey of Iran (GSI), Tehran, and the Tabas Coal Company. M. Mehdi (Kénitra, Morocco) kindly determined the agglutinating foraminifera.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Senckenberg Naturhistorische Sammlungen Dresden, Museum für Mineralogie und Geologie, Sektion Paläozoologie, Königsbrücker Landstrasse 159, 01109, Dresden, Germany

    Markus Wilmsen

  2. GeoZentrum Nordbayern, Fachgruppe PaläoUmwelt, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Loewenichstr. 28, 91054, Erlangen, Germany

    Franz T. Fürsich

  3. School of Mining Engineering, University College of Engineering, University of Tehran, PO Box 11365-4563, Tehran, Iran

    Kazem Seyed-Emami

  4. Geological Survey of Iran, PO Box 131851-1494, Tehran, Iran

    Mahmoud R. Majidifard & Massoud Zamani-Pedram

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  1. Markus Wilmsen
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  2. Franz T. Fürsich
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  3. Kazem Seyed-Emami
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Correspondence to Markus Wilmsen.

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Wilmsen, M., Fürsich, F.T., Seyed-Emami, K. et al. Facies analysis of a large-scale Jurassic shelf-lagoon: the Kamar-e-Mehdi Formation of east-central Iran. Facies 56, 59–87 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10347-009-0190-8

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